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Information Operations

Information operations and warfare, also known as influence operations, includes the collection of tactical information about an adversary as well as the dissemination of propaganda in pursuit of a competitive advantage over an opponent. RAND research has enabled military leaders and policymakers to develop strategies and policy frameworks to address the challenges of these military operations.

China is rapidly closing what was once a substantial gap between the PLA's strategic weapons capabilities and its strategic deterrence concepts. The United States will likely need to assure its allies that it will continue to maintain the capability and the resolve to support them in a crisis.

Unconventional options from the Swiss defense strategy during the Cold War could benefit Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. These include training and equipping local defense units and preparing transportation infrastructure for demolition to prevent an invasion.

In an update to a 2012 RAND report on information operations (IO) in Afghanistan, this paper describes the continuing challenges of IO doctrine integration and harmonization and the establishment of measures of effectiveness for IO.

RAND researchers developed a process for prioritizing functions and information systems in assessing mission assurance under cyber attack, a challenge due to the number of systems, range of vulnerabilities, and variety of combat support functions.

The U.S. Department of Defense has struggled to assess the progress and effectiveness of its efforts to inform, influence, and persuade audiences in support of key national security objectives. Examples of strong assessment practices across sectors—including defense, marketing, public relations, and academia—can help address these challenges.

The U.S. Department of Defense spends more than $250 million per year on efforts to inform, influence, and persuade. How effective (and cost-effective) are they? How well do they support military objectives? How could they be improved?

The failure to find the missing aircraft demonstrates anew the serious gaps in data coordination and challenges public assumptions about the thoroughness and simplicity of searching the world's data for answers.

The U.S. Army is studying ways to apply its cyber power and is reconsidering doctrinally defined areas related to cyberspace operations. Clarifying the overlap between network and information operations and other areas could inform Army doctrine.

Even when the U.S. military took all the right steps, its credibility was undercut by concern among Afghans in contested areas that their own government would be unable to protect them from a vengeful Taliban once U.S. and NATO forces left.

This research brief offers an overview of the effectiveness of U.S. psychological operations in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2010, with particular attention to how well messages and themes were tailored to target audiences.

The efforts of U.S. military information operations and psychological operations in Afghanistan between 2001 and 2010 grew less successful over time. The most notable shortcoming was the inability to counter the Taliban propaganda campaign against U.S. and coalition forces on the theme of civilian casualties.

Researcher Spotlight

Adjunct Research Staff

Senior Fellow

Natalie Crawford is a senior fellow and Distinguished Chair in Air and Space Policy at the RAND Corporation. She is also a professor at the Pardee RAND Graduate School. She has held a number of leadership positions within RAND Project Air Force, and was vice president and director from 1997 to…

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